*Warning this section may contain spoilers for Season 1 of Game of Thrones (The Game) and Season 3 of Game of Thrones (The Show)*

The story for Game of Thrones is set between the ending of Season 3 and the beginning of Season 5. The story follows the House Forrester as they try protect their home of Ironrath from the Whitehill family who following the events of the games opening are trying to wipe out the remaining allies of House Stark from the face of Westeros.

The story is told through the eyes of six different characters.

The game opens up with the events of the red wedding from the show’s third season and the death of not only members of House Stark but all their allies including Lord Forrester. With his dying breath, Lord Forrester asks his squire; Gared Tuttle to return to the Forrester home of Ironrath and pass on the message “The North Grove must not be lost”. Gared returns to find his family have been massacred and in retaliation he attacks those who killed his loved ones. Upon arriving at Ironrath; Gared passes the message of the deaths of both Lord Gregor Forrester and Rodrick Forrester. With Ironrath left needing a leader and the next heir to the throne banished; Ethan Forrester is appointed the lord of Ironrath and tries to solve the problems in a political manner however things soon go from bad to worse for House Forrester leaving them to rely on the help of the Eldest Daughter; Mira Forrester who is hand maiden to Margaery Tyrell in King’s Landing (with connections to the Lannisters) and Asher Forrester; The Banished son who became a sell sword in Essos and a brutal fighter.

In addition to this, Gared after the attack is sent to become a member of the Night’s Watch and guard the wall where he receives training from many brave members of the watch including Jon Snow but remembering the dying words of Lord Forrester; Gared must embark beyond the wall to make sure that the north grove doesn’t fall while Ironrath also gets a surprise as it’s later revealed that Rodrick Forrester is not quite as dead as everyone believes.

All in all, The story as a whole is phenomenal and is not only one of the finest stories that Telltale has crafted but it also fits in very well with the Game of Thrones mythos and overall arching storyline from the deaths and betrayals; to the bad language and enemies and while the story may not be described to the best of my abilities here in this section. It has been done in a way as to avoid spoilers since this story is truly one which you must experience through playing the game yourself.

Gameplay:

Game of Thrones follows the familiar point and click adventure gameplay of many other telltale titles with heavy reliance on button co-ordination and knowing where each button is on your controller. Unlike games like Tales from the Borderlands or Minecraft: Story Mode which have unique features to the games; Game of Thrones is more like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us opting for the more traditional Telltale gameplay which mainly consists of just controlling your character around the environment you find yourself in and interacting with people and objects for possible items which could come of relevance later in the story or even to start up a conversation with one of the many characters surrounding you.

The battles in the game utilize the quick time events that Telltale have become well known for when it comes to combat with the button presses being used for the sword attacks or generic attacks with different weapons while the analogue sticks are used when trying to help your character avoid death by dodging oncoming attacks such as sword swings, arrows or even a bear attack. It’s this fun and familiar gameplay that makes telltale games so enjoyable however after some time; the gameplay can become rather repetitive and leaves you satisfied yet kind of wanting just a little bit more in terms of the gameplay such as unique character abilities.

All in all, Game of Thrones has some enjoyable and familiar gameplay which avid Telltale gamers will be used to however I feel that while the basic point and click gameplay suited Game of Thrones’ narrative; there could have been a little bit more in the way of gameplay such as some unique abilities for the characters. The battles however are great in the game and while the gameplay can get slightly repetitive in terms of exploration and combat; the caliber and quality of each segment and battle makes up for it.

Sound:

The sound section of Game of Thrones is incredible and is by far one of the strongest features in the game. The music throughout the game is composed by Jared Emerson-Johnson who does a fantastic job at recreating a similar score to the television series with the music really transporting you to westeros and having it’s own distinct atmosphere about it. Another feature I really liked when it came to the music section of this game was the fact that each episode started with the now iconic Game of Thrones theme tune composed by Ramin Djawadi which added to the feeling that this was basically an interactive episode of the show.

The voice cast in Game of Thrones is outstanding from start to finish with the game consisting of many newcomers to the world of voice acting with some of my personal standout performances being from Alex Jordan (Asher), Daniel Kendrick (Gared) and Martha Mackintosh (Mira) while there is also some very familiar voice actors present in the form of Robin Atkin Downes and Brian George who give great performances as Duncan Tuttle and Ser Royland Degore respectively. The game also features some very familiar faces and voices from the show with Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Natalie Dormer, Iwan Rheon, and Emilia Clarke all reprising their roles as Cersei Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, Margaery Tyrell, Ramsay Snow and Daenerys Targaryen respectively.

All in all, the sound sections in Game of Thrones are perfect with no possible way to improve on it.

Graphics:

The visuals on Game of Thrones has both it’s positives and even a negative. For the positive, I’d easily say that while still adapting the distinct art style of most telltale video games (minus the cel shading); Game of Thrones is the most realistic looking game on Telltale’s repertoire with beautiful environments and well designed characters that look like they have literally been ripped straight from the show. The art style chosen by telltale really suits the nature and tone of the game of thrones world and all in all makes the game beautiful to look at with Drogon looking like a work of art.

The Negative side of things however is that from Episode 2 onwards; the visuals seem to get a bit jagged with the outlines of the characters and locations sometimes appearing somewhat out of place or even getting slightly blurry at times however other than this the visual side of this game has definitely been a step up from what Telltale usually make.

Lasting Appeal:

Like most Telltale games; The story alone has quite a bit of gameplay time with each episode lasting roughly an hour-2 hours depending on if you are taking your time and with six episodes it does give you a good amount of gameplay however there is no side objectives or collectibles in this game and the trophies/achievements can be earned by simply completing each chapter in the game.

Like most Telltale games there is of course the ability to play through the game and make different choices (this game in particular features many difficult choices) however if you are not really a fan of experiencing a different story to the one you have already played through; then there is next to no replay value in Game of Thrones.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, Game of Thrones may be one of the most enjoyable Telltale games out there with a gripping story and likable characters aswell as beautiful artistic visuals and a sound section that really help to compliment these features. The combat sections are fun however as mentioned; the gameplay while it does work for Telltale does get a bit repetitive with the point and click gameplay and the visuals can sometimes appear jagged and out of place.

Other than those few issues; Game of Thrones is a fantastic and welcome addition to Telltale’s incredible games library and a must play for both Thrones fans and fans of Story games.

Score = 8/10

The Good:

Phenomenal Story

Gameplay is familiar and easy for newcomers

Battles are fun

Fantastic Voice Cast and Soundtrack (Including main theme)

Beautiful Artistic Visuals

Sticks close to the source material yet original

The Bad:

Gameplay feels repetitive after some time

Visuals sometimes Jagged and out of place (Blurry also)

No real replay value

Game of Thrones is available now digitally for PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, OS X, iOS & Android and available physically at retail for PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One & PC. Thanks go out to Telltale Games for supplying the game and assets used in this review. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this review in the comments section below and be sure to stay tuned to UGNN for all your gaming news and reviews and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.